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Lately, there have been persistent talks of destabilization and coup d’etat or another EDSA-type People Power revolt. The anticipation of the latter was heightened during the wake of Fernando Poe Jr. Luckily for President Arroyo, no such uprising happened. But with the President’s unpopularity and the reports that the opposition is convincing Susan Roces to lead them, as well as the constant threat of Revolution being waged by communists guerillas, the new year also brought with it the air of political uncertainty. I’m sure many of us are bothered by the question “Will Mrs. Arroyo finish her second term?”

“Arroyo may not last through 2005,” says a recent report by Alexander Martin Remollino of Bulatlat.com.

Bloggers who run ads on their sites–and earn anything from it–may now help the victims of the earthquake and tsunami that hit parts of Asia last month by pledging to the local Tsunami Earthquake appeal the January proceeds of any advertising on his/her website.

“Stay alive and whole for the coming year,” is the Department of Health’s message to the Filipino people during New Year celebrations. In its Oplan Iwas Paputok Website, it reported that “about 760 Filipinos nationwide reportedly suffered from blast injuries after the Christmas festivities in 1995.”

Meanwhile, from 8:01 a.m. of December 21, 2004 to 7 a.m. today, there were already 585 injuries recorded in 50 hospitals nationwide, said Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit in an INQ7 report. Eight deaths due to firecrackers were also reported, with seven of them due to an explosion that razed firecracker stores in Bulacan early morning yesterday.

Despite the tragedies that are currently making the headlines, pardon me for being so stuck with FPJ. I just can’t resist sharing with you this greeting from a friend of “Da King”:

Isang bagsak
Sa ikababagsak
ng salot na Pandak!
Isang mapagpalayang bagong taon sa inyong lahat!
Sama-sama nating harapin ang Bagong Umaga!

The National Geographic Channel has a story on the claim in Dan Brown’s novel Da Vinci Code that Mary Magdalene is Jesus’ wife. The story promises to separate the fact from fiction. It will air on Sunday, December 19, 9 pm in the United States. If my computation is correct, that ‘s around 1pm on Monday here in the Philippines.

Here is a collection of excerpts from a number of Filipino bloggers’ entries about Fernando Poe, Jr. and his death. These entries were chosen from visited blogs and from Technorati search results:

The Sassy Lawyer, Queen of Philippine Blog Scene:

I extend my sympathies to those he left behind.

I guess that means we’re stuck with Gloria Arroyo.

Erin, Philippine-born Chinese from the University of Asia and the Pacific:

I am SICK and tired of how good FPJ was and how he should be someone everyone should look up to and how much good he gave to Philippine society, because FPJ was good only when he was sober (which isn’t very often), the only good he gave to Philippine society was increasing revenues of the beer industry, and the only reason why I look up to him is because I’m shorter than he is.

Archbishop Oscar Cruz, Roman Catholic bishop and anti-jueteng advocate:

Among all the presidential candidates in the last national elections, it was only Fernando Po, Jr., who signed a covenant with the Krusadang Bayang Laban sa Jueteng. It was only him who committed his governance to free the country of jueteng when elected to the Office of the President.

He took the risk of getting the ire of the gambling lords. He decided not to accept jueteng payola for election purposes. He was a moral giant not only in the movie world but also before the appreciation of the Krusada.